Crypt of the Sorcerer (book)
:For other uses of '''Crypt of the Sorcerer', see'' Crypt of the Sorcerer Crypt of the Sorcerer is a single-player role-playing gamebook, written by Ian Livingstone, illustrated by John Sibbick and originally published in 1987 by Puffin Books. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2002. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the 26th in the series in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-032155-1) and 6th in the Wizard "Series 1" (ISBN 1-84046-396-1). There are currently no announced plans to republish this book as part of the Scholastic series. Creation The book had two working titles, Crypt of the Necromancer and The Howling Tunnels. - pg.4 Background - Back Cover ("Dragon" Edition)}} Razaak, an Evil Necromancer, has re-awoken after being entombed for a hundred years. He plans to send his army of undead to take over Allansia. The main objective for the reader is to find his sword, the only weapon which will harm him, and then to find and defeat him. Companions, a Hunter and a Dwarf, are found along the way to help with the adventure. Introduction The book in general follows the original rules set down in ''The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (see Game System). Unique Rules The opening paragraph sees the player given a Healing Potion by Gereth Yaztromo which has five doses which restore four stamina points each dose. - 1 Equipment List No equipment list is given. It is assumed, since you start with no skill penalties, that you begin the adventure with the standard sword, leather armour, and backpack. Cover and Illustrations Covers The original cover of the book was designed and illustrated by Les Edwards. When the book was republished by Wizard the cover was re-worked Les Edwards. Illustrations The interior illustrations were by John Sibbick. There were 32 full page illustrations and 5 minor repeated illustrations scattered throughout the text. The paragraphs with a full page illustration were: 7, 18, 33, 45, 56, 68, 79, 90, 103, 115, 127, 139, 152, 167, 178, 189, 202, 214, 226, 239, 249, 261, 276, 286, 299, 315, 326, 339, 353, 365, 377 and 391. The colour map on the inside front cover was by Leo Hartas. It was not reproduced for the Wizard edition. Intertextual References Other Media Main Characters YOU: Hero of Crypt of the Sorcerer *Borri - Dwarf *Budron *Covax - Wizard *Gereth Yaztromo - Wizard *Jella - Half-Elf *Kull *Lord Varek Azzur *Arakor Nicodemus - Wizard *Razaak - Necromancer *Symm - Hunter/Tracker *Ungoth - Skeleton Lord Locations *Catfish River *Chalice *Darkwood Forest *Forest of Spiders *Howling Tunnels *Lost Lake *Mirewater *Moonstone Hills *Pagan Plains *Plain of Bronze *Port Blacksand *Red River *Silver River *Silverton *''The Lion'' *The Western Flatlands *Valley of Bones *Windward Plain *Yaztromo's Tower *Zengis Encounters *Ape Men *Bonekeeper *Cave Troll *Centaur *Chameleonites *Clay Golem *Demonic Servants *Demonspawn *Doragars *Dwarfs *Gargantis *Giant Fire Beetles *Goblins *Hellcat *Hill Giant *Iron-Eater *Lava Demons *Orcs *Rad-Hulks *Rat Men *Razaak *Skeletons *Vampire Bat *Wild Elf *Wild Hill Man *Werewolf *Wood Demons *Zombies Further Notes *The central plot of Razaak the necromancer bears more than a passing similarity to the story . *This is one of the hardest Fighting Fantasy books, since the victory path is very narrow, leaving very little room for error and therefore making gameplay extremely unforgiving. There are many certain artefacts and items that must be collected in order to be successful. For instance, part of the adventure involves fighting a rare creature known as the Gargantis to get its horn; the only way to defeat it is by gaining the power of chameleonite camouflage and a certain crystal as a protection. But in order to gain the crystal in the first place, the player must expose himself to a deadly menace at the start which can easily end the game very quickly, if the die roll to be made is unlucky enough. Not only that, there are other crucial dice rolls scattered throughout the book that have a significant chance of getting an instant death, which has nothing to do with the player's skill, stamina, or luck scores. Therefore even if the player has maximum scores, the chances of him/her surviving is still deemed to be small. *Uniquely, Leo Hartas is given a credit on the title page for the map as well as a credit on the copyright page. Errors *The equipment list is missing which may be an error. *Although you need the Crystal of Sanity to protect yourself from the Gargantis, no option is given to use it if you encounter Razaak's Hellcat pet, which also has a mental attack. It is possible the Crystal's powers are drained when you face the Gargantis. *Typo in (115): We are told that "Lava Demons metamorphose into Fire Imps" but in the very next sentence they are described as "Lava Imps". Dedication Puffin Edition To all Puffin warriors, especially Anne Ainley, Liz Attenborough, Susan Brent, Susan Elliott, Robin Wakefield and Annie Winterbotham - pg.5 Wizard Edition To Jack - pg.5 See Also *''Casket of Souls'' *''Dicing with Dragons'' Reviews External Links *Character Sheet - Retrieved 2019-10-26 *[http://www.gamebooks.org/show_series.php?id=11 Fighting Fantasy at Gamebooks.org] - Retrieved 2019-10-26 *[http://www.gamebooks.org/show_series.php?id=12 Fighting Fantasy (Wizard Series) at Gamebooks.org] - Retrieved 2019-10-26 *[http://www.gamebooks.org/show_item.php?id=62 Crypt of the Sorcerer at Gamebooks.org] - Retrieved 2019-10-26 *[http://web.archive.org/web/20050829160716/http://www.fightingfantasy.com/ffb26.htm Crypt of the Sorcerer at the Internet Archive record of the old] Fightingfantasy.com - Retrieved 2019-10-26 References Category:1987 books Category:Fighting Fantasy Original Series Category:Fighting Fantasy Wizard Series